Chilly Qingdao III: Showtime

Finally it was showtime. The event was held at the function hall in the basement of the hotel. The tables were arranged in a very "meeting style". The hosts sat at one end, while we sat with their customers at the other end, facing each other. In the middle (at the far end) were the senior management of our hosts. Very surprised that the CTO is actually a woman. Something rare. The whole event was set up purely for the benefit of their customers who numbered less than 8 persons. One by one our local partners got up to give very impressive presentations. I noticed that they could really weave stories naturally and talk and talk and talk non-stop. All in putonghua of course. These were the same people who worked late setting up the venue, managing the logistics, and entertaining the guests. Talk about efficient multitasking. Hot tea was served along the course of the day. One Singaporean colleague was Indian, so he needed a translator to assist him. Whereas the other Singaporean did quite well by himself.



At the end of the first day, we had a dinner with our local partner (my GM went to a posh dinner with the senior management). Their get together seem to be a perfect excuse to drink. They would go table to table toasting each other. The junior would toast lower than the senior as a sign of respect. And if you're too far away, you just tap your glass on the table. As guests, we too were a target for toasts. All that happened even before the food was served. Once again, they ordered more than was necessary. I got full just from eating the starters-- jellied pig feet, fish skin salad (yummy!), seaweed salad, tofu salad, etc. I can't even remember the mains ! Way too much food. As the night wore on, they went crazier with the booze.



To our surprise, one Chinese guy at our table was allergic to alcohol and there was a Taiwanese lady who didn't care for drink, so they rescued us. We went back up to our rooms to grab warmer clothes before going out for a night walk. They wanted to visit the famous Zhanqiao Pier. The wind was howling and it was dark, and yet there were plenty of local tourists out and about. Newlyweds actually brave the cold to take wedding photographs there. Can't say that I was very impressed with the Zhanqiao Pier and the Huilan Pavilion at its terminus, but I guess it's a matter of local pride. Long walks do help with digestion of heavy meals, so for that I was pretty thankful.